For the room and sometimes tickets (so either RO or a MYW package), we generally book directly with Disney either via their website or by phone.
Twice (1 past trip, and 1 for our upcoming December trip), I redeemed my bank's Rewards points through their Rewards website for a one night room only stay at a Disney resort -- the one night after-cruise bookend of a split stay). FWIW, to Disney the first time we did this it appeared as if the room was booked via Travelocity, so that must of been who the bank used on the back end, though it did not show that way when i booked the reservation. For the first trip we were able to book the RO discount in effect at the time. For our upcoming trip the night is in what is usually a blackout from RO discounts, so it is rack rate and I do not expect a discount will come for the date. The rewards program reservations allow ONE change to a reservation, for a $10 fee. The pre-cruise multi-night stay at a different resort I booked through Disney's website (rack rate and we are willing to pay that, but I am hoping there will be a RO discount open up for those dates later in the year, and if there is we will switch the reservation to the discount rate).
(I should note that other than redeeming the bank rewards for a room, whenever I travel anywhere I book directly with the hotel company through their website, taking advantage of frequent guest programs and special offers; we typically book the
AAA/CAA rate as it is usually the cheapest option that is refundable/cancelable.)
Air we do directly through the airline website (my preferred right now is WestJet in large part because Air Canada really screwed up during my last flight with them).
For tickets I have done those either as part of a MYW package (via Disney) or separately. For separately I have bought via CAA (member discount), and for another trip I redeemed Air Miles to get MYW tickets.
Finally, all of this is put on a Canadian credit card that has multiple types of
travel insurance benefits if their card is used to pay for the entire trip. I also separately purchase an annual multi-trip medical insurance plan through an insurance broker; the plan we get covers any number of trips outside one's home province upto 35 days long each trip, and has a "pre-existing conditions must be stable for 7 days" clause, which is the best I was able to find. I also have some travel medical coverage through work's extended health benefits insurance, which has no pre-existing condition stable period but which has a much lower limit of coverage. I figure the two combined should be able to deal with anything I would encounter, and both include return-home provisions.
I would be interested in hearing where other Canadians buy their
trip insurance through, as we have considered doing that for some trips, but not found a good company to use; there seem to be so much better travel insurance options for US residents :-(
-SW
